Pages

Sunday, 29 April 2007

Hokkaido Milky Loaf

I have finally found the bread recipe that yields the "right" texture!!

I really like my bread to be cottony soft and fluffy. I found this recipe from this site sometime back, but didn't get to try it till now. I have seen another Hokkaido Milky Loaf recipe from a cookbook, but that is made with Hokkaido's Furano fresh milk, which of course is not available here. This recipe uses ordinary fresh milk.

I followed the recipe exactly but only halved the portion as we wouldn't be able to finish such a big loaf. The special thing about this recipe is that it uses whipping cream. I guess this makes the bread soft and increases the moisture. The bread was still moist when left overnight even though no additives such as bread improver is used! This bread can be made by using the straight dough method or the Water roux method. I find the Water roux method too troublesome, although it will yield a much softer texture.

It was a breeze making this loaf using the straight dough method. I simply added all the ingredients into my bread machine, set it to the "sweet bread" function and let it run on its own. Do note that if you are using a bread machine to do the kneading, you will have to scrape down the side of the pan from time to time. The dough appeared to be very sticky and wet in the beginning. When the loaf is done, do remove it from the pan carefully. When fresh out of the oven, the loaf was very delicate! It was so soft that I deformed it when I tried to remove the kneader at the bottom :'(

A closer look at the texture of the bread. This is the best bread I have made so far. The texture is truely cottony soft, and it tasted even better than the sweet bun bread that I have made earlier. The bread is delicious eaten plain and it is not necessary to warm or toast it even though it was left overnight. This is the kind of bread that I will make and give it away to friends and family members :))

Hi Eliza, thanks for dropping by and linking me up on your blog. You have a beautiful blog and your bakes are gorgeous! I can't wait to see your posting on this bread :))

Hi anonymous, I am afraid the bread machine can only bake loaves. If you are refering to buns, you will need an oven to bake them. However, the bread machine is capable of making loaves with added flavourings such as nuts, seeds, dried fruits, raisins, etc. On top of that, depending on the brand, you could also make jams and use it to mix & bake simple cakes and quickbreads (those that are made without yeast but uses baking soda or baking powder). Hope this helps!

Your loaf looks really soft :) well done! Last night I tried making some buns and well...it didn't turn out really good. It so happen the recipe was intended for bread machine which I don't have. ha!ha! I really have to brush up my skill in bread making :)

Hi Anne, thanks for the kind words! Actually, I didn't do much work...other than making sure the right amount of ingredients went into the bread maker, and it did the rest of the work for me :) It's the lady who came up with this recipe whom I truely admire!

hi, ur hokkaido bread looks so soft n fluffy!! Did u bake it in a bread maker? Will be most grateful if u could advise me the brand ur using. Im thinkin of buying one cos the pics of ur bread looked so good tht its encouraging me to try baking bread - so far, just been baking cakes n cookies.

Hi Becky, I bought my breadmaker from carrefour, the brand is Bluesky @ S$69.90. Sometimes I'll use the breadmaker to bake the loaf, but other times, I'll just use it to do the kneading...then proof at room temperature, and then shape and bake using my oven. You can also try making bread by hand...although it needs a lot more work, if u have a standing mixer that comes with a dough hook, you can also use it to mix and knead the dough. hope this helps :)

Hi HHB,Im munching on a hot "freshly out-of-the oven slice" of Hokkaido milky bread as im typing this comment. Its really soft n the best bread ive ever made n tasted!! :) Thks very much for sharing this recipe. Well, actually ive had this recipe from another blogger in my to-do list for some time. BUT YOUR pic of the Hokkaido Milk bread was sooo....delish, it was just the nudge i needed to bake it straight away! Im think im gonna try ur choc swirly bread tomorrow! Thks for sharing ur recipes n pic - so glad i stumbled into ur blog recently. I'll definitely be dropping in here ever so oft!

Hi Susanna, thanks for your kind words! Glad to hear that you have tried this bread and like it:) I've also seen this recipe sometime back, but didnt try until lately. It seems like a very good recipe as many bloggers who have tried it like it. Have fun baking the chocolate swirl bread! Do check out the various Jap sites (as stated in my postings) for ideas on how to roll/fold/shape the dough. Happy Baking :P

I came across your page the other day, and what a lovely blog you have! I was actually doing a Google search for Hokkaido Milk Loaf recipes when I came across the recipe you mentioned above, and then a little later, I came across you blog. Just reading your entry made me decide to go for it and try the bread out. What a great recipe! Bread turned out beautifully, which is great since my 1st attempt earlier with another recipe was a complete failure. I'll definitely be checking out your lovely blog more often in the future! :)

I located the exact recipe from that same food site in the past year or so, but have never made it before. My oven seemingly has some heat distribution issues, so I'm not able to make loaves of bread with the right texture. Your bread looks lovely and I've noticed that almost all chinese food blogs i've visited feature pics of this type of bread. Do you reckon I could make these into buns instead (since i've had success making buns before)or would the reduction in portion size and hence surface area, make them not as soft? also, if i do this, how long would you recommend me reduce the baking time by, and how would I test for doneness? :S

Hi Jo, I read from blogs that for certain bread recipes, the bread will be good if it is made into either loaf or buns, whereas certain recipe, will only be good for loaf and not buns. I am not sure about this recipe though...but I think it should taste as good? As I am relatively new in the area of baking, especially breadmaking, I can't really give much comments. However, I've read that the softness of the bread/buns are not so dependant on the baking time...it's more on the combination of the ingredients...amount of milk, eggs or butter or cream used. The kneading is another important factor to ensure softness. Most soft buns will require the dough be kneaded until it can pass the stretch test. other factors such as shaping/rolling and time given for the dough to rise will also affect the texture. I gauged the baking time by looking at the appearance...as long as the buns are browned, I'll remove them from the oven. I read that to test for doneness, you will have to tap the bottom of the bread, if there's a hollow sound, it means that the bread is done. So far, I didn't try this method as I couldn't differentiate what's a hollow sound from a bread, and the bread were usually too hot for me to tap, hehe!

I have been visiting your blog for a while now and always enjoy reading about your baking and cooking adventures. I would like to try the Hokkaido milky loaf. May I know what sort of cream you used? I am thinking of using Emborg's UHT whipping cream which contains 35% fat. Another recipe I read uses single cream. Please advise. Thank you.

Hi Peik Keng, glad to hear that you like my blog :)You may use Emborg's whipping cream...I have tried this recipe with Bulla heavy cream, which is also about 35% of fat. It should work fine. However, I'm not sure about single cream as the fat content is much lower. Hope this helps! Do drop me a note after you have tried it, hope u like it :)

Hi Anonymous, I am not sure whether this comment is meant for me as I am no Angie? Over here, the eggs are not categoried by size...I weighed the eggs that I ususally use...it's about 65g with shell on. Judging from the size, it's about medium to large. Hope this helps.

hi happy homebakerit's me again.. i don't have a bread machine, so made this from scratch. my bread is yellowish, because i forgot to "halve the egg qty" and i'm wondering why my bread crust is hard. is it because i forgot to brush with egg wash / water? but the inside is soft and fluffy.

Hi Sandy, it's best not to add too much flour on the work surface while kneading. I usually dust with a thin layer before I start kneading...during the entire kneading process, I don't dust with flour anymore. The additional flour may not yield a satisfactory texture of the end product. I am sure your next attempt will be much better :)Yes, the baking911 site is very useful...it was one of the very first site which I referred to before I made my first loaf of bread :)

Hi HappyHomeBaker,I have to say your blog is sooooo inspiring!! I came across it 2 days ago and i've been glued to my computer looking through. I want to try my hands on the hakkaido milk loaf but i am not sure whether to go ahead and an electric mixer or not. All the loaves i've ever baked have been by hand, so im a bit scared to try a different method but i'll give it a shot. cld u pls clarify what "1 pc egg" stands for? I thought it meant to use one egg but reading some of the other comments, someone mentioned something about halving the egg! Pls let me know. I am also wondering if anyone knows a substitute for cake flour that would work well with this recipe, i havent been able to lay my hands on cake flour here in Nigeria.Thanks.

"1 pc egg" refers to 1 egg.As the original recipe yields quite a big loaf, so some bloggers (including myself) halve the recipe. As a result I used half an egg. I am not too sure about a good substitute for cake flour. You may want to refer to this site: http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.htmlHope this helps :)

Hi HHB,Foremost, thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes with us. I'm so glad that I came across your blogspot and I have been checking others too and noticed that you are almost everyone's favorite. Keep up with the good work.I have tried 2 of your recipes; Rustic Wholemeal Bread and Crunchy Peanut Butter Bread (made into a 6" square tin) and they're fabulous. I have read so much about Hokkaido Milk Bread and gonna try it out but could you please advice me how much instant dried yeast can I substitute for the dried yeast as mentioned in the recipe. Everywhere I look, only instant dried yeast is sold. By the way, I'm from Malaysia.

I just baked the Hokkaido Milky Loaf but I didn't get the same cottony texture you described :( I don't know what could have gone wrong. I used the same ingredients except for the yeast; I had just 4g of dry active yeast so I used all that. The texture I got was kind of dense. I use the same bread maker as you: Bluesky from Carrefour. Do you think the sequence by which I put in the ingredients matter?

Thanks for replying so quickly! Can I ask you more questions? Since you halved the ingredients, what loaf size did you select on the bread machine? I used the full 540g of bread flour and selected the 700g loaf option. Also, did you mix the ingredients well first before turning the maker on? Did you add the salt last? I followed the sequence on the instruction manual of the bread maker (for sweet bread. Is that ok? I'm not an experienced baker, having only baked bread with my Bluesky since I don't have an oven at home. I really want to know whether the texture we can get from breadmaker is always dense? What contributes to the fluffy texture of the bread? My mum thinks it's because the water is not enough.

Hmmm, I don't know why my second comment didn't get posted. I am writing to you a second time. Can I ask you more questions? Did you select the '700g' or '900g' loaf size since you halved the ingredients? Do you mix the ingredients in the machine first before letting it work? I find that it is very hard to achieve a fluffy texture using a breadmaker. Do you have the same experience? My mum says it's because of insufficient water. But I doubt it because I follow the recipe from the breadmaker closely. Is it true that using the conventional oven is the only way to achieve the same kind of fluffy, cottony texture we get from bread shops here? I have too many questions. I think I should go for a course in basic bread making :)

Hi Anonymous, You can choose the bigger loaf size (750g?) if you are using the full portion. (I used the smallest loaf size). No, I didnt mix the ingredients...I simply add them in the bread pan...usually it is the wet ingredients before the dry ones...eg milk, followed by the whipping cream, egg, salt, sugar, milk powder, bread & cake flour, lastly, make a dent in the flour and add the yeast. I hope u are doing this correctly?

I dont think it is the amount of water. Since u only used 4g of yeast (the actual amount required is 10g for the full portion) I suspect that's the main reason...the dough didn't rise enough due to the small amount of yeast?

I tend to agree that my bread machine is not 'powerful' enough to knead the dough to reach the right stage, as such, I usually let the machine knead for at least 30mins (by start & re-start), in order to achieve a soft bread. However, for this recipe, the texture is quite soft even though I used the standard full cycle. It will be good if u can get hold of a cookbook on breadmachine, you can borrow from the library to get a better understanding on bread making with bread machine. A good book will be THE BREAD BOOK by Sara Lewis. Simple and yet filled with lots of photos. Hope this helps :)

Yes, I followed this sequence. The bread did rise alot actually. It almost reached my breadmaker. The Bluesky machine I have has just two loaf sizes, 700g and 900g. I chose the 700g option for the full-portion recipe (i.e. 540g of bread flour). I am not discouraged yet :-) I will try again with 10g of yeast after we finish this loaf. Taste-wise, it is not bad. In fact, it is the best-tasting and softest bread I have made so far. It's just that I wanted to achieve the same cottony texture as you have. I have made so much bread with this breadmaker but my family is not used to the dense texture a bread machine achieves. So I end up eating the bread myself. haha.

Yes, definitely will get the book you recommend. And will definitely buy an oven when I move into my own home next year!

Thanks so much for your blog. It is really very inspiring to all aspiring bakers!

Hi Fivedollar, I don't own a good bread knife...I simply bought one from Daiso at $2. You may check out baking supply store or the household/kitchen sections of major departmental stores for good quality bread knives.

Hi， Found your blog while 'looking' around. I love to bake & cook & have turned my passion into a little home bakery. I make my own bread almost everyday & sometimes I make Hokkaido milk loaf too with a 汤种 recipe, in case you might be interested, check out this linkhttp://warmsweethome.blogspot.com/2005/11/blog-post_113255021066678706.html

Hi Anonymous, sounds like your had two problems...proofing and baking. 1st of all may I ask is this the 1st time u are using the breadmachine? Did you have the same problem happens to your previous other breads? This loaf I made rised up to the brim of the bread pan. It could either be due to your yeast not being active (have you checked it's expiry date?), or the temperature of the other ingredients, were they cold from the fridge? Since the dough didnt rise much, I guess the bread was overbaked. You may want to select the Light crust option next time, I find that this option is just right for my bread.

Thanks for answering my question. Yes I think the problem is with the proofing and baking. However I cant pin point to what went wrong. The yeast is good bec i just used it on other bread and they rise to more than double. Could it be the milk & cream, which are cold from the fridge? I tried another time using the knead function only and shape into buns myself. Again it did not rise :( Do u think i need to bring out the milk and cream to room temp before starting?

Hi Anonymous, in that case, do bring the milk and cream to room temperature. I think the temperature in fridge is about 4 degC, so it will take a while for the ingredients to return to room temperature. So the yeast must have 'gone to sleep' with such a low temperature ;)

thanks for your prompt reply & guidiance. sorry for my numerous ques as I'm really very interested in this bread and want it to work out. I am using instant yeast but the recipe said dry active yeast. I just weighted the same as mentioned. is there any diff? In my 2nd attempt when i hand shape the dough, i waited for 2 hrs for it to proof and again it did not rise. So i think there is some serious problem with the yeast. thanks :)

I finally got it :) mainly 2 problems. First the milk and cream must be too cold for the yeast to work. Again i did not bring out first, but i waited it to proof for almost 4 hrs before shaping it. Secondly i ve put in the ingredients in wrong sequence in the BM. I actually put the dry before the liquid, as my previous BM works this way :p thanks for all ur help and advice, i finally got my cotton soft bread for my son to bring to school :)

Hi Anonymous, glad to hear that you managed to get it right! I asked whether it was the first time you are using the BM, since you have used it before, I thot you wouldnt have gotten the sequence wrong ;pI've read that we should not over-proof the dough, 4hrs is really too long, the longest I have allowed a dough to proof was 2hrs. If the dough is over proofed, it may collapse while baking.

Hi! Just want to ask how do u measure all the small amounts of ingredients? I find it difficult to do that. Also, when u put milk powder, what type of milk powder u put? Also, how do u keep the yeast? Cannot keep it in the fridge right?

Hi Anonymous, I find it difficult to do that too. as my kitchen scale can only read up til 10g, so, most of the time I just go by rough estimation. I use my kids milk powder, Dumax brand. I keep my yeast in the fridge. I assume you are a local? It is best kept in the fridge for our weather here.

Thanks for the recipe. Tried it last night and I doubled the recipe. My children kneaded the dough and I managed to bake 2 loaves and 8 sausage rolls for lunch boxes today. They were delicious!! I'm looking forward to trying out more recipes from your blog.

I have tried the Milk loaf recipe n it turned out great. Everyone loves it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

I really like to try your Hokkaido Milky Loaf. You mentioned that you divided all the recipes into half portion. May I know how many gram of egg did you used? and it also mentioned to separate the yeast from salt n sugar. Does it mean I put the yeast last? i.e mixing all the ingredients first then put yeast.

Hi Anonymous, I used half an egg. I lightly beat the egg, and measure it. Then weight half the amount and use it. I didnt exactly record it, but it should be around 25-30g. Are you using a bread machine? If yes, you will have to follow the instruction manual. Some machine will ask you to add wet ingredients followed by dry ones, others may ask you to add dry before wet. As for my machine, I have to add in the wet ingredients, than the dry ones, then the flour, and make an indent on the flour and add in the yeast last. For making by hand, I usually mix all the dry ingredients including Instant Yeast together in a mixing bowl, make a well in the centre, and add in the wet ingredients.

Thanks for the reply.I don't have the bread machine... yet :p. So, need to knead it by hand. I will put all the dry ingredient together, mix well. Make a well in the middle then put the wet ingredient. Thanks for the advice. will let you know the result :)

hi HHB,this recipe really work on a bread maker! I followed closely to the recipe, only thing different was to activate the yeasts in warm sugary water before pouring into bread maker.will try out your other recipe this weekend. thanks for sharing. :-)

Hi HHB,In order to finish up the left over ingredients from my first Hokkaido Milk Loaf attempt the other day, I made another bread last night. Since I ran out of egg, and I have some raisins on hand, I decided to be adventurous - Hokkaido Milk Raisin loaf, minus egg! I followed the instructions in your raisin bread section - to add in raisins only towards the end of 2nd kneading cycle.The result is not too bad. Bread is soft and yummy. But it is a denser bread than the one I made previously. Maybe I did not put in enough yeasts to proof the dough and thus not rising high enough.More recipe to try this weekend. :-)

I finally have a bread machine. Its from Phoon Huat cos my mother accumulated the vouchers to buy it. Tried your Hokkiado Milk Bread. Its indeed soft and my son likes it so much. However, I am not sure y my bread is yellow or brownish instead of white? Could it be the milk powder I use?

Not sure if this bread machine is different from the usual kind found in market?? It doesn't have sweet bread mode! So I use basic and choose light crust. The crust is still thick and a little too dark too. I cant even choose a smaller loaf setting. Any idea what mode shd I be using if it doesnt have "sweet bread"

Hi Sherlyn, I think the bread is a little yellowish due to the dairy cream. Mine was also yellowish. I'm not sure which mode you can use, but I think the basic mode should be find. It's quite normal for bread machine to yield a slightly harder crust as compared to baking in a normal oven.

I was so inspired by the pictures of this bread that I bought a bread machine yesterday and baked this bread right away. The result - it tastes really good but the texture is dense. It is even denser now. What do you think could be the problem? I followed the recipe exactly except the amount of yeast. Because the quantity is so small and I was not using a digital scale, I had to estimate to the best of my ability. The main problem, however, could be the temperature of the whipped cream. It came in a frozen tub. I did microwave it a little bit but it was colder than room temperature. Do you think this jeopardized the texture?

Hi HL, Thanks for your comments :)As many factors can contribute to the end result, I don't really know what causes the dense texture. It could be the temperature of the ingredients...and it could also be due to the amount of yeast. What kind of yeast did you use? I use Instant Yeast...and I dont have a digital scale too...my scale can only read up to 10g, so I always estimate. Lately I use a teaspoon to measure Instant Yeast...1 tsp is 4g. I dont seems to be of much help here. Nevertheless, with a few more tries, I'm sure you are able to bake a nice loaf. Happy Baking!

Hi, I tried this bread recipe yesterday and I can safely say that it's the best bread that came out of the bread machine in terms of texture and taste. Thanks for sharing it with us. However, the bread seems to be a little hard when left overnight, it is normal or should the unfinished bread be stored in the fridge to retain it's texture?

Hi Anonymous, what a coincidence, I made the same bread yesterday afternoon! This time, I only used the machine to do the kneading, I left it to proof at room temperature, shape and bake in a pullman tin. The bread taste as soft this morning. I kept them in an air-tight container. It will usually stay soft for at least 2 nites. I have never kept my bread in the fridge. How do you store your bread?

Hi Anonymous, I am not sure whether leaving the bread un-sliced will help to keep it soft. I usually slice the whole loaf once the bread cooled off. However, do note that as homemade bread does not have any addictives, it will not stay soft as compared to those store bought ones.

I used full-cycle under sweet function but the crust is hard. I suspect is due to the breadmaker.Can I use the bread machine to knead n proof(Idont know how to proof), then transfer to my oven ? If so, which cycle should I choose?

Hi Linda, great to hear that you and your family like this bread, we love it too :) I have not tried with cocoa or milo, maybe you can try by replacing one tablespoon of flour with one tablespoon of cocoa powder/milo.

Hi Anonymous, you can use the DOUGH function, it will do the kneading and the proofing...time taken is about 1hr 30mins. (20mins of kneading, the rest is proofing time.) After the cycle, remove the dough from the breadmachine, shape as desired, let if proof for the 2nd time and bake with your oven. Hope this helps.

Hi Anonymous, yes, for the 2nd proofing, if you are using the pullman tin, you will need to place the dough int the tin and cover it with the lid to let it rise (under room temperature) before baking. I usually cover it with a cling wrap so that I can see how it is doing. It usually takes about 60-90mins for the dough to reach about 90% of the height of the tin. You may want to read more about bread making at this site: baking911.com, it has got lots of detailed information. You can also borrow books on breadmaking, or bread making with breadmachines from the library. It certainly helps to get the basic knowledge. I learn baking thru reading cook books, so far I have not attended any baking class or workshop, as such I am no expert in this area, just sharing what I have learned from my own baking experience ;p

2) How to do know to use "Sweet" or "Basic" Function? Which one should i use for his Hokkaido Milk loaf?

3) I made the bread (milk Loaf) last nite... I realised that the dough was very wet. i added more flour and beat the flour for quite long. & i use "sweet" function which i any how guessed. The bread was soft but a bit rubbery. is the dough suppose to be wet for the milk loaf??

1. It refers to the size of the finished loaf. My breadmachine comes in lb, I usually select the smallest size, since I usually use recipe that uses about 300g of flour.

2. Sweet is for sweet dough where there are more sugar in the recipe. You can refer to the the instruction manual for all the details on the various functions. I use Sweet dough function for this Hokkaido milk loaf.

3. The dough is quite wet, just follow the recipe closely and it should be ok. By adding more flour, it will affect the texture of the bread. Hope this helps.

Hi, I chanced upon your blog when i was researching on whether to get a breadmaker or not. Your blog is awesome! Everything looks so good and delicious!

I eventually got the carrefour brand breadmaker and just made this hokkaido milk loaf. I used the sweet bread function as you have advised, however, the bread came out with a very thick and hard crust, and the crust doesn't look as smooth as yours. (looks like surface of moon in fact)

Can you pls advise and teach me what went wrong? The measurements of my ingredients were exactly half the recipe. Thanks.

Hi Zhen, thanks for visiting :)May I ask whether this is the 1st time you are using the machine? Have you used it to make other bread? If yes, did you have the same problem? If not, did you read thru the instruction manual before you proceed? You need to bake 'blind' (ie on the machine without any ingredients in the pan) for the very first use. Did you follow the sequence in adding in the ingredients? (liquids and egg to go in first, followed by salt, sugar, etc, then flour and finally yeast.) Which loaf size did u select (choose the smaller one)? which crust setting did you use (choose the lightest)? I'm sorry, as you did not give enough details I can't really comment on what went wrong.

Yes, this is the 1st time I'm using the machine. I've never used it to make other breads b4. I've also read thru the instruction manual, it stated to bake without anything for 10 mins and i did so.

I also followed the sequence of adding in the ingredients correctly (liquids first, then flour and yeast last), and selected the smaller loaf size with the lightest crust setting.

Just want to find out since you've got so much experience baking bread, does the texture differ if i use the breadmaker to bake the bread compared to using the breadmaker to knead and then baking the bread in the normal oven?

Hi Zhen, you are doing all the right thing...I am not sure what went wrong. I do find bread that are baked with the bread machine tend to give a harder crust, although I didn't have problem with this recipe. Yes, if you use the normal oven to bake the bread, the crust will be much thinner.

Yeah, I'm puzzled too about the outcome of the bread. Anyway, I sliced the bread after it has cooled down, and to my horror, the holes in the bread were quite big. As in, maybe it's overproofed or something. I shall try it again till i get it right. Will probably put it in a pullman tin and try the next time. Thanks for all your advises!

Hi Zhen, I checked this site (http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm#breadproblemsmachine), it says that if there are holes in the bread, it could be due to too much yeast. I hope your next loaf will be a great success :)

Thanks for your advise, I'm trying this loaf again even as i type and this time, i let the macihine knead the dough then proof and i roll it out on a floured surface. Just want to check with you something as i have not baked a bread 'manually' before. :)

I tried rolling the dough with a pinroller and roll it up swiss roll style, but as i roll, the dough kept shrinking back. Is this normal?

It is normal that the dough will shrink back...it is very elastic. You will need to divide the doughs (into 3 or 2, up to your preferenc), shape them into rounds, cover and let them rest for about 15mins. Thereafter, flatten the round dough, roll out and roll up swiss roll style. The resting time will help the dough to relax and you will find it easier to shape.

Hi Sue, glad to hear that this bread recipe has rekindled your joy of baking homemade breads :)Most of the time I only use my bread machine to knead the dough. I prefer to shape the dough and bake it in my oven. You can try recipes which I have posted such as "Crunchy Peanut Butter Bread", "Milk Loaf", "Wholemeal Loaf", "Sweet Buns". Happy Baking!

HI HHB,Can I check with you how do u select the loaf size from the bread machine? I mean do you determine the loaf size from the total weight of the flour or total weight of all the ingredients? What if some breads that call for 2 different types of flour?Thanks!

Hi, I use the total amount of of the different type of flour used to determin the loaf size. I use the following as s rough gauge:1 lb (300g flour)1.5 lb (450g flour)2 lb (600g flour)Since my BM does not come with 1 lb bread, I always select 1.5lb as I usually make bread that uses about 300g flour. Hope this helps.

I'm new here and I found your blog really interesting and i think you really have the passion in your baking..I've read through the recipe for this Hokkaido milk loaf and I don't understand what is the meaning to separate the yeast from salt & suagr to avoid dehydration? Can you assist me on this remarks?

Hi Daynee, most bread machine cookbook and instruction manual will advise that the yeast not be added at the same spot with the salt and sugar. Salt will curb the yeast, while sugar serve as 'food' for the yeast. I am sorry I am no expert in this area, as such I am not able to provide a detailed explanation.

At first I thought I can just add in the yeast straight from it's bottle but I came across this website. It says that yeast should be dissolve in warm water first. I'm going to bake my first bread tomorrow! So excited! Thank you HHB for all the wonderful recipes. :)

Hi Meirong, ok now I got what you mean. If you are using Active Dry Yeast, then u need to dissolve it in water before using (to 'wake' it up).If you are using INSTANT Yeast, u can add it straight to the other ingredients. I assume you are a local? I use this brand "Bake King", it is instant yeast. You can read about the different types of yeast here: http://www.joyofbaking.com/Yeast.htmlHope this helps, and HAPPY BAKING!

Thank you HHB! That really helps. I've tried making the mini melon pans. Took around 3hrs to bake. Haha...kneaded the dough by hand. That's my 1st time! It was fun although my arms ended up sore at night but recovered to next morning. I added the instant yeast to the wet ingredients and bubbles form within a minute. The melon pans turned out quite well although the top isn't crispy and the bread turned a bit hard the next day.

Hi HHB, I love this recipe. Been using it for awhile. Thinking whether I can change it to pandan flavour? Used your pandan bread recipe to make a bread loaf today but duno izzit under measured the flour, ended up not successful.

Happy Homebaker. Was this bread made by your breadmaker from kneading/proofing to baking? This is what i wish to try. As I've seen from the internet that the bread machine can only do the kneading while the dough would have to be proofed and baked in the oven (instead of bread machine). I would prefer finish teh process in teh bread machine. Please advise.

Hi, My.First.Attempt, I have tried this recipe using bread machine and making it by hand. I am not sure what went wrong with yours, could it be due to the yeast? You can refer to this site (http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm#breadproblemsmachine) to see whether you are able to identify the cause. Hope this helps.

I am so happy to find my fav bread recipe in your blog by using breadmaker. I have Tefal breadmaker but I seldom use it as buying bread here is very easy but of course not for the Hokkaido milk bread. You need to go to Japanese grocerry store to get this bread which is quite a distance for me (about 30KM/30 drives) from my house.Can you let me know how many teaspoons of 9gm of salt. For the yeast, I buy the instant package one of 11gm. Will reduce it before I put it.

When I put all the ingredients into my breadmaker on dough function, after it was done kneading it was super wet! it looked like a wet dough surrounded by a puddle? Is it supposed to look like that? so then i put some more bread flour into it, but it made it really dense instead of fluffy and it didn't rise in the oven at all :( (i used a 9 inch by 5 inch pan. I reallyy would like to succeed in making this! It's my favorite bread whenever I visit Taiwan :)-Anna

Hi Happy Home Baker:) I am a really big fan of your blog and recently, i have started my own too! I only have one recipe so far but will definitely keep trying. Really wish that you will link me @ simplybakess.blogspot.com

Hi, I use half of the yeast too. I am currently using this bread machine which I bought when I was in China.(http://www.amazon.cn/Donlim%E4%B8%9C%E8%8F%B1%E9%9D%A2%E5%8C%85%E6%9C%BAXBM-1139S/dp/B0055B33S0)My bread machine is a cheap and comes with very basic functions. I used it mainly for kneading bread dough.

Hi HHB,I have just started to make bread from DL bread machine brought a month ago. Glad that I found ur blog and managed to make some tasty loaf bread using ur recipes.When you mentioned using "sweet" funtion, it seem there isn't this in DL machine, any idea which is the equivalent?

Hi HHB, I tried this recipe last night and it turned out really well. However, during the mixing and kneading process, I found that my skimmed milk powder (bought from Phoon Huat) coagulated into little hard lumps that won't dissolve. I tried to pick them out manually cos I was afraid they would show in the final product, but there were just too many. Thankfully, they disappeared after baking, and I did not notice them in the bread.

Can I just ask if this happened to you too? Do you think it could be the milk powder I used, or was it because of something else? Or does it not matter? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for replying! Yes, I think I will try sieving the milk powder the next time. Speaking of which, do you normally sieve the flour before mixing? I do not sieve the flour when making bread, and only do so when specified such as in cake recipes, but I have always wondered if it is necessary in bread recipes too.

Hi, I dont sieve the flour for bread making either especially if I were to use my bread machine. You may also try dissolve the milk powder with the liquid (water) that is called for in the recipes, this way it may help to prevent the lumps.